I'm Here
by IAmTheUltimateYaoiFanBOO
Summary: She showed up on my doorstep. Hair a mess, eyes big, red, and puffy. Though I think I should have, I didn't turn her away.


**I feel awesome. I finally got another story done, but most of my more than one chapter stories are spur of the moment and never get done. Anyway, this story is kind of a Hurt/Comfort/Friendship/Romance thing and i thought of it when I was listening to "Is Anybody Out There?" by K'naan ft. Nelly Furtado. This was inspired by that song and my family life, but I kind of tweaked it a bit. I hope you like it. I wrote it in about thirty to forty minutes.**

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><p>Sasuke had just finished the last problem on his homework when his intercom rang, telling him someone was at the front gate.<p>

"Who the fuck is here at eleven o'clock at night?" he mumbled. The boy stood up and walked down the hallway, ignoring the sounds coming from his brother's room, and stood at the front door. He pressed the button to the intercom.

"Who is it?" he asked. A scratchy voice answered,

"Sasuke, it's Ino. Can I come in?" Sasuke groaned. He really didn't want to deal with her fan-girl stalking shit right now. He was just about to tell her "no" when she spoke again.

"Please, Sasuke." The sheer desperation in her voice made him pause. It didn't sound like her. He pressed the button again.

"Alright. Come on up." he said, pressing the button to open the gate. The Uchiha stood at the front door until he saw Ino's shape form through the glass. He opened it for her before she even rang the doorbell.

She looked horrible. Her eyes were suken in, red, and puffy, like she had been crying for hours. Her usually silky, blonde hair looked washed out and was a complete mess. It looked like she had tried to pull it into a ponytail, but the hair was matted and frizzy. Her lips cracked and bloody. Ino's whole body shivered since she had no jacket to protect her from the rain.

"Damn. Ino, what happened to you?" Ino sniffed loudly and rubbed her arms. "Um, hold on. Let me get you a blanket or something. Just, uh, go sit in the living room." Sasuke stared at her as she went to sit on the couch. He'd never seen her this way before and he didn't know what to think of it. He left the room to get a jacket and a few blankets. Ino sniffed again and rubbed her arms faster.

She didn't really know what she was doing here. She knew she should have gone to someone else since Sasuke didn't like her much, but who? No one really liked her at all. Sakura was her frenemy, but they weren't on good terms right now. Hinata was out since she wasn't much help with things like this. Temari was a definite not. Tenten had enough problems, she didn't want to pile her own on top of the weapon-lover. The other boys were either too stupid to understand or hated her. Sasuke was her last resort.

"Here." Ino looked up startled to see Sasuke holding out a jacket, carrying three blankets, and a box of tissue. She thanked him, putting on the burly jacket. Sasuke draped the blankets over her and set the tissues on the coffee table. The blue-haired boy then sat next to her.

"So, um. What's wrong?" Ino blew her nose before answering.

"What am I going to do, Sasuke? My p-parents, they were, and then I, and oh Kami, what am I gonna do?" She then started crying, the tears streaming silently down her cheeks. Sasuke shifted, not knowing what to do about a crying girl. He didn't have any sisters and his mom never cried in front of them. He was clearly out of his element. he reached over and patted her awkwardly on the back.

"Uh. Well," Sasuke cleared his throat, "why don't you start by telling me what happend?"

He meant it as a statement, but it sounded like a question. Ino looked at him, and it broke his heart, despite his hatred for the blonde. She looked so defeated and...heartbroken. Her eyes showed so much emotion that Sasuke was frozen in spot, not knowing how to comfort her.

"W-well, my dad came home really mad. I didn't know why. He told me to go to my room so him and mom could have a discussion. I left, but I hid around the croner so I could hear them. At first it wasn't so bad. They were talking rationally like a normal couple. I didn't think it was really bad so I went to my room. A couple of minutes later," she paused to blow her nose,

"I heard them screaming at each other. I snuck out so I could hear them, but i heard them perfectly the moment I opened my door. My dad was so angry. My mom, she- she cheated, he said. She cheated on him. I didn't believe it, but he said he had proof. It was quiet for a couple of minutes before my mom said that it wasn't what it looked like. She said she was drunk, but my mom wouldn't drink to save her life. Then it got really bad.

He said everybody saw her at that party and she didn't drink a single drop of alcohol. She said she snuck it. She was a liar, he said. My dad said she was a whore. She probably cheated on him every time I went to school and he left for work. He knew that it was the reason that she wouldn't touch him when he got home. I noticed it too." Sasuke stared as Ino stopped talking. He moved closer, trying to get her to continue talking.

"Noticed what?" She looked at him again. Some of the sadness gone, he noticed.

"How every morning she didn't look at him. How when he tried to kiss her, she turned away. I-I should have saw the signs like he had. He said he noticed how she stopped wearing her wedding ring. He knew she was cheating on him, but never said anything. Then it was quiet. Mom said he was right. She said she was so relieved he figured it out. Now she didn't have to sneak around behind his back. She didn't want him anymore. She didn't," Ino choked on the next word. Sasuke rubbed her back as she started crying again. "love him anymore.

I ran. I ran to my room and cried. I just...coulddn't stop. I listened to them for a while longer until I heard a smack. I snuck out right then. I couldn't listen to them fight. I didn't know it was raining. I just-" a sigh. Ino sighed like she had finally given up. Sasuke felt so many emotions at once. Angry at Ino's mother, sad for Ino and her father, defeated for himself, confused about how he didn't know what to do, and the most important, hope that Ino would get through it. The boy sat there staring as she used tissue after tissue.

"Um, I'm sorry." _I'm sorry? That's the best you could do!_ his mind screamed at him. Ino smiled sadly as she looked back at him, the image broke another piece off of Sasuke's glass heart.

"It's okay. I needed to get it out." Ino wiped her cheek with her hand, smearing her make-up even more. Sasuke reached for her cheek and wiped some of her tears with his thumb. Ino laughed dryly as he pulled his hand away.

"I didn't think you would care. I honestly thought you would have kicked me out the moment you looked at me." Ino looked away as if ashamed. Sasuke sat there thinking for a moment.

_Do I really seem like that bad of a person? Aren't I though? Turning away everyone that cares about me. _Sasuke turned her head to look at him. Brushing the hair from her face, he leaned in and kissed her forehead, like a mother would do to her child. He pulled her towards him and she rested her head on his shoulder. Ino gripped his shirt and cried even harder. The boy held her tighter and rocked her back and forth. Some ten minutes later, her tears had dried and it was completely silent.

"You gonna be okay?" Sasuke mumbled against her head. She shook her head and he sighed. The blonde looked up at him.

"Thanks though, Sasuke. For caring and everything." She leaned against him again and Sasuke allowed it. A little voice in his head told him that she was probably lying about the whole thing and she wanted to get with him. A bigger voice stomped it until it was dust.

"Your welcome." They were silent yet again.

"Sasuke, can I stay here tonight? I don't want to be alone." Sasuke leaned back to look at her.

"You're never alone, Ino. Trust me. I'm here for you. C'mon." Sasuke lead her to his room, giving her a t-shirt and shorts to wear. As Ino left to change in the bathroom, he wondered to himself.

Why had he let her stay? If he was the person everyone made him out to be, he would have sent her to that hell-hole of a home. He wouldn't have held her or let her cry on him. He wouldn't have listened to her or given her warmth. He wouldn't have even let her into his home, but he had. He did all of those things for a girl that has been basically stalking him since he was twelve. Why?

"Um, where should I put these?" Sasuke looked up at her voice and saw Ino there wearing his clothes. A very small voice in the back of his head told him that she looked good in his clothes, but he ignored it. She had fixed her hair and her eyes were still red, but no longer puffy. He pointed to the basket at the opposite wall of the room.

"Just throw them in there. I'll wash them in the morning." Ino nodded and went to put them there. Sasuke watched her as he did. That small, little voice was growing bigger.

"Here. You should get some sleep. I'll take the floor and you'll take the bed." Why wouldn't his voice shut up? Ino looked at him in surprise, but quickly hid it.

"No. I can't. I'll take the floor."

_Has she always been this generous to her hosts?_ he wondered to himself.

"No. You're staying at my house, so you'll sleep in my bed. I'm sleeping on the floor." Sasuke's tone left no room for argument. Ino slipped under the covers after Sasuke grabbed a blanket and pillow.

"I still feel bad." she muttered as he laid down. The blue-haired boy chuckled and shook his head.

"Don't. Just get some sleep, alright." he told her. Ino grumbled, but obliged, falling quickly into a deep sleep. Sasuke sighed before closing his eyes too. That little voice told him there was gonna be more trouble with Ino before he knew it.

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><p><strong>I'm thinking this will have another couple of chapters. Let's just see how it goes. What do you guys think? Review please!<strong>


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